flOW TO KEEP BEES FOR PROFIT 



these cells are of the very best, yet the fact 

 that they have to be cut out of the combs in 

 order to isolate them in cages, has led to the 

 adoption of little wooden cups in which eggs 

 are grafted by the beekeeper, by which means 

 they can the more easily be handled without 

 the danger of injuring their occupants, as will 

 be described later. 



When a queen begins to show signs of fail- 

 ing through old age or injury, the colony will 

 at once begin to build cells, and when the 

 young queen begins to lay, the bees will usually 

 kill the old one. If a colony has its queen 

 taken from them, or should she be killed 

 through the careless handling of the frames 

 by the beekeeper, the colony will also build 

 cells in order to replace her, and under the 

 conditions outlined above will build from five 

 to fifteen cells, though in the case of Carnio- 

 lans and Cyprians colonies will often build as 

 many as fifty cells at a time. While the cells 

 reared by the bees under normal conditions 

 are the very best, yet their production is 



100 



